Vermont man indicted on murder charge in stabbing of prep school trustee in NH hotel lobby

LITTLETON, N.H. – A Vermont man charged with stabbing a private school trustee in a New Hampshire hotel lobby in what officials called a random attack has been indicted on one count of second-degree murder.

Rodney Hill of West Danville, Vt., told police he was going through a divorce and was angry because of an email he had gotten from his boss when he punched and stabbed White Mountain School trustee Catherine Houghton on Jan. 28 in the lobby of the Hampton Inn in Littleton, according to court documents. Authorities say the two were strangers who happened to be registered at the same hotel that night.

Hill, who had already checked into the hotel, told police he was Jesus and that he believed the woman he attacked in the lobby was either the devil or his father, who was out to hurt his family, according to the records.

Hill, a self-employed welder, also said he was taking Seroquel, a medication used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar depression. He told hotel staff he was going through a divorce.

The 70-year-old Houghton had traveled to New Hampshire from her California home for a board of trustees meeting at the school from which she graduated in 1960.

The indictment handed up Friday charges Hill with recklessly causing Houghton's death by showing extreme indifference to human life, The Caledonian Record reported (http://bit.ly/11EXtx9).